I'm still new and learning about SEO. Are there any good books or blogs that cover the topic?

One that was referred to me a while back, not specifically for "SEO, but is more in tune with web content (verbiage), is "Web Copy That Sells". Now, it doesn't go specifically into "best copy for SEO", but it does put your mind straight in terms of what you should do for your web pages, emailings etc, and how it pertains to grab the attention of your web visitors.

And, since we are really supposed to write for humans first, tweaking for SEO after the content is written, should be relatively easy.

You can learn a lot by participating in SEO forums just like this forum, By reading online tutorials, youtube videos, and most importantly you can start your own blog and can implements what ever you learn to your blog.